Muchacho Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Gday guys. This is my first post back after a long lay off not having a boat and I apologise if this has been addressed elsewhere on the forum. I have looked but couldn’t find any direct answers to my question regarding welders in southern Sydney. Any help is greatly appreciated. I just bought a boat that I was told had some holes but once I removed the carpeted skids off the trailer I found many more holes than expected. My initial plan of puttying the holes has now changed to welding plates on either side of the boat. I have made contact with a local boat welder who I am waiting on a response from but I’m not sure if it’s too small a job for him to be interested or if he is simply too busy to get my boat in. I would love to get the boat on the water before it gets too cold to take the daughter out, so any recommendations of boat welders with proven experience would be appreciated. Again I apologise if this has been addressed elsewhere in the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Hi A couple of years ago I could have done the job for you but I am simply too old now to take on any work. If it's a old boat with many small holes in it you will find once the welder starts sanding away the old contaminated surface good enough to weld (material must be clean ) he/she will find many more holes and the job will cost more than the boat is worth. You can do the job yourself with some practice. There is a soft melting alloy rod that you can buy and you will need a good propane torch about $80 from large hardware store and you clan the alloy around the hole and heat the area up , while heating the area keep moving the torch ( DON'T JUST LEAVE THE FLAME ON ONE SPOT ) and dab the welding rod onto the area . When the surface of the alloy reaches the correct temperature the rod will start melting, wipe the rod over the hole and this will make a permanent repair. As with most things practice practice practice on a off cut of Alloy you can buy a small plate of alloy from the same store that sells the flame frower. select the same thickness plate as you hull . Frank 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 24 minutes ago, Muchacho said: Gday guys. This is my first post back after a long lay off not having a boat and I apologise if this has been addressed elsewhere on the forum. I have looked but couldn’t find any direct answers to my question regarding welders in southern Sydney. Any help is greatly appreciated. I just bought a boat that I was told had some holes but once I removed the carpeted skids off the trailer I found many more holes than expected. My initial plan of puttying the holes has now changed to welding plates on either side of the boat. I have made contact with a local boat welder who I am waiting on a response from but I’m not sure if it’s too small a job for him to be interested or if he is simply too busy to get my boat in. I would love to get the boat on the water before it gets too cold to take the daughter out, so any recommendations of boat welders with proven experience would be appreciated. Again I apologise if this has been addressed elsewhere in the forum. If you want to do the job yourself and save HEAPS of dollars you could come to my place in Berala and I could teach you how to apply this soft alloy material it take a bit of skill first up to do it and if not taught you may find it difficult to do. I will not charge you anything to show you how to do the job. Frank 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Hate to say this, but if you found pinholes, there is going to be hundreds of them once you start cleaning it up, the metal will be like tissue paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 OH, and do NOT putty/glue/pop rivet/silicon those holes…. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muchacho Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 5 hours ago, frankS said: If you want to do the job yourself and save HEAPS of dollars you could come to my place in Berala and I could teach you how to apply this soft alloy material it take a bit of skill first up to do it and if not taught you may find it difficult to do. I will not charge you anything to show you how to do the job. Frank Thanks Frank I really appreciate your offer. I want to try get it into a welder as I have other plans for the boat also so would prefer to get it welded up, but may take up your offer if I don’t get anywhere. if the small amount of work is an issue to getting it in to a welder and getting it looked at I will discuss the other works I want to do, such as welding in a rear step, electric motor mount and bracing to mount a floor. the boat isn’t too old, 2000 model from memory, but has been unused for many years sitting on the salty skids, which has caused the issue. without removing the skids from the trailer the extent of the issue wasn’t entirely evident. thank you again for your kind offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muchacho Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 2 hours ago, noelm said: OH, and do NOT putty/glue/pop rivet/silicon those holes…. I do expect that more holes will come up when sanded back which is the reason I’m opting to have a plate welded on. Puttying/epoxy is a last resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Even as a last resort, don’t do it….welding a patch is probably not a great option either, but it might turn out to be your only one. Unfortunately I have seen plenty of tinnys with pinholes that are just about unrepairable, the metal gets so thin and there is so many holes. Old Stacers had an issue at one time, where the floor touched the sides, the “reaction” just ate thousands of holes right around the entire boat, some you could just about lift the top half of the hull off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muchacho Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 Is there any other options to welding a patch or puttying up the holes? this does look like it’s only in the area that was contacting the carpeted skids. Otherwise the boat looks perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) 27 minutes ago, Muchacho said: Is there any other options to welding a patch or puttying up the holes? this does look like it’s only in the area that was contacting the carpeted skids. Otherwise the boat looks perfect. Where do you live ? and is the boat off the trailer ? Maybe I could come and have a look at the damage and advise you what steps to take. I am going down to Bermi fishing on Mon, Tues, Wed, and Thurs next week but any time after that I could come and have a look at the boat for you Frank PS the boat should not be resting on the skids they are only to stop the boat from rocking side to site when under way on the trailer. The weight of the boat should be on the keel rollers. Edited March 9 by frankS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onearmedfisho Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 On 3/9/2024 at 8:37 AM, Muchacho said: Gday guys. This is my first post back after a long lay off not having a boat and I apologise if this has been addressed elsewhere on the forum. I have looked but couldn’t find any direct answers to my question regarding welders in southern Sydney. Any help is greatly appreciated. I just bought a boat that I was told had some holes but once I removed the carpeted skids off the trailer I found many more holes than expected. My initial plan of puttying the holes has now changed to welding plates on either side of the boat. I have made contact with a local boat welder who I am waiting on a response from but I’m not sure if it’s too small a job for him to be interested or if he is simply too busy to get my boat in. I would love to get the boat on the water before it gets too cold to take the daughter out, so any recommendations of boat welders with proven experience would be appreciated. Again I apologise if this has been addressed elsewhere in the forum. Mate call Dave from DM Marine on 0410774696. He is in Kirrawee and is very well known in the area as a top notch alloy welder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derny Driver Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 51 minutes ago, onearmedfisho said: Mate call Dave from DM Marine on 0410774696. He is in Kirrawee and is very well known in the area as a top notch alloy welder If this guy is busy, I have used an amazing aluminium boat building company in South Nowra. Great prices and the workmanship and service is brilliant. The company is named after a mythical immortal greek bird which obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor .... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 2 hours ago, onearmedfisho said: Mate call Dave from DM Marine on 0410774696. He is in Kirrawee and is very well known in the area as a top notch alloy welder I will allow this business to be posted here. Dave was a long time sponsor of fishraider. Tell him Donna from fishraider referred you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onearmedfisho Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/11/2024 at 3:21 PM, mrsswordfisherman said: I will allow this business to be posted here. Dave was a long time sponsor of fishraider. Tell him Donna from fishraider referred you. Thanks Donna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now